The present invention relates to an elastic, insertable coupling, as well as to an elastomeric element for an elastic coupling.
Insertable, elastic couplings are widely used in industry, and are utilized in various applications, such as, for example, pump drives. These couplings transfer the torque of the apparatus or mechanisms that are to be coupled accompanied by the simultaneously acting staggered shaft arrangement. In some applications, elastic couplings having no penetration protection (“penetration type of construction”) are preferably utilized and are characterized in that when excessive load or wear is encountered, or upon destruction of the elastomeric elements of the coupling, a non-contact, free rotation of the coupling parts relative to one another is ensured.
Elastic couplings having elastomeric elements, for example pursuant to DE 39 10 502 C2, transmit the torque by means of a peripheral force that primarily subjects the elastomeric elements to bending and pressure. In order at a prescribed structural size to be able to transfer as great a torque as possible, the elastomeric element must be as hard as possible. On the other hand, the staggered shaft arrangement of the coupled mechanisms leads to a deformation of the elastomeric element. Similarly, the requirement of having a low restoring force, and hence the requirement of having low additional bearing forces of the coupled mechanisms, call for elastomeric elements that are as soft as possible. In addition, the hardness of the elastomeric element essentially determines the torsional spring rigidity of the coupling. Here too there often exists the requirement for a configuration having low torsional stiffness with correspondingly high dampening.
At the present, elastomeric elements for elastic couplings are utilized having largely homogeneous properties, whereby the aforementioned conflicting requirements often cannot be adequately covered. Either the elastomeric element is made relatively hard, with the drawback of an only slightly permissible staggered shaft arrangement, or the torque of a prescribed structural size that can be transmitted must be limited if relatively soft elastomeric elements are used.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to embody the elastomeric element of the aforementioned type of elastic coupling having no penetration protection in such a way that not only the requirement for transmitting a high torque, but also the requirement for having a low restoring force and the compensation of a staggered shaft arrangement, can be fulfilled.